Police on Thursday raided the office of a company in Seoul that manages a computer server run by a progressive teachers union to investigate whether the public workers had violated laws by expressing political statements against the government.
Earlier in the day, Jongno Police Station seized documents and data from a telecommunications company working with the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, the nation’s biggest progressive teachers union that was recently outlawed by the high court.
The raid came after some 100 unionized members left a series of posts on Cheong Wa Dae’s website condemning President Park Geun-hye’s push to reinstate state-authored textbooks and urging the government to salvage the Sewol ferry that sank in 2014, leaving 304 dead or missing, many of whom were students on a school trip.
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| Officials from the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union on Thursday hold a press conference at its headquarters to protest against the police investigation. (Yonhap) |
The police said the teachers are suspected of violating relevant laws because public workers are banned from publicly expressing political opinions. According to the State Public Official Act, government officials are also prohibited from collective actions such as a labor movement.
The authorities also plan to investigate a case where the Ministry of Education and conservative civic groups filed lawsuits against the teachers union. They asserted that the public workers violated the law by issuing an antigovernment statement and staging sit-ins in public space.
Some 20,000 unionized teachers issued a public statement last November, comparing President Park’s decision to adopt state textbooks to a “coup” against the nation’s modern history. A total of 84 key organizers and participants were charged by the Education Ministry.
Since being outlawed by the Seoul High Court for a violation of labor laws last month, the beleaguered organization has undergone similar investigations they claim are politically motivated. The police seized the group’s Internet server and record in July 2014 amid allegations that the teachers had violated the law by expressing political opinions.
By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)
